changes

my skin has been going crazy this week. I get these hairbumps on my inner thighs around my period. Well I need to check when my cycle is due because I had a bunch of them the other night. My face is also breaking out and looking disgusting. I rarely get pimples but this week has brought out scaly rough skin and lots of white and black heads. My body is flushing out the toxins so things have no where to go but out. I'm already a little short on my rent but I'm going to get some kale, spinach, carrots, apples and celery from the supermarket tonight. I need to do a heavy green juice tomorrow and give myself a facial. I'll do a video of me doing the facial and stuff tomorrow. Everyone needs to take time to take care of their skin.

I havent been wearing foundation all week and I'm really paying attention to whats going on with my face. By months end my face will be looking different.

I Used To Be Fat

I just watched an episode of 'I Used to be Fat'. It was okay. It just reminded me of how much I kicked ass back in 2008. I lost 30 pounds between January and March by eating better and working out 4 times a week. I wasnt even doing anything crazy at the gym; the treadmill and the elliptical machines. Last year when I did my stint at the YMCA I took different classes and got to feel the power of weight lifting. I receently started cooking again. I ordered a copy of 'The Womens Guide To Weightlifting' and I love it. All of these little things that I've been learning in the past 2 years are all pushing me in the right direction.

This week I didnt workout as much because I wanted to get into the groove of eating better. I think I did pretty good. I could stand to eat more veggies and fruits so I think I'll do only veggies one day next week and increase it to 2 days a week in February. I have a lot of OT scheduled in the coming months but I def want to make sure I plan my meals and workouts. I miss my bootcamp fitness class but I know I'm not ready to go back yet. I think the last week of the month I'll be ready to tackle bootcamp in the mornings again.

I want to be 180 pounds. Solid. I want my legs to look like they were carved from kenyan ivory or some shyt. A flat stomach and toned arms. Seriously. I'm sketching clothes that I want to wear in the spring and I dont want to feel like I cant wear whatever I want. Over the years I have definitely gained a lot of confidence in my body - thats only gonna skyrocket once I start releasing weight again.

My coworker bought in her exercise ball to the office and today we took turns doing crunches. I did 30 crunches this morning and before I leave I'll do another 30. The 200 squats challenge is a good one too. I can do that at work. I need to do a log of all the exercises I do at the office. I was on bodyrock.tv last night looking for a simple routine I could do before I left for work in the morning. I'll do another post on my workout plan for next week as well as my fitness goals for January.

LONG TERM GOALS:look sexy for Jamaica in March
create a new wardrobe for the summer
go rockclimbing in July
go white water rafting in July
weigh 180 lbs by Labor Day
wear a size 12 in the hips and a 10 in the waist

I made chicken to take to work this week. I dunno but the taste of the chicken is a little off. I know its not spoiled but I think I need to start buying halal meat from now on. I ate the chicken but I really dont like how it tastes. Maybe I didnt clean it properly but I shouldnt have to clean the meat so harshly. If its gonna be all that then I just need to buy halal.

Im doing great on the no dairy thing. My almond milk tastes great and its good in my oatmeal. Yesterday I ate so much but I guess it wasnt really that much because by the time I left for work I was hungry. I had oatmeal with almond milk and creamed honey for breakfast, a handul of raw almonds and cranberries for a midmorning snack, stewed chicken with lentils and okra for lunch, lentils and flaxseed chips as a mid afternoon snack and hummus and flaxseed chips right before I left work. I was eatin good! When I got home I played Just Dance 2 and the Michael Jackson dance game for about an hour. Then I ate baked bbq chicken, lentils and broccoli for dinner. I did mess up a lil cause around 2am I found myself in the kitchen eating tortilla chips and cheese sauce but I'm not gonna beat myself up about it. I feel good today. My body is a little sore from the dancing but I feel really good.

this might be TMI but I think the beans are starting to do a number on me. Number 2. I went like 4 times yesterday. Its healthy to go right after your meals but I didnt think it would be that soon! I did take some psyllium husk on tuesday evening so that must be it. Plus I'm drinking 2 liters of water a day. The best part is nothing seems forced and I dont feel overwhelmed with changes. I feel confident in being able to stick to my guns. I'm not obsessing over food and I feel free to focus on other areas of my life guilt free.

Food for Thought

I went food shopping on monday night. After spending a week with my aunt I kinda had an idea of some things I wanted to make to start off my year of health in 2011. I went to Trader Joes and I went to my local supermarket. Here's what I purchased:

Trader Joes (14th Street Union Square)
Unsweetened Almond Milk
2 containers of Organic Oatmeal
Kashi Go Lean cereal
Condensed Cream of Mushroom soup
2 bags of Veggie & Flaxseed tortilla chips
Almond Butter
Raw Almonds
Dried Cranberries
Creamed Honey
Trader Joes Spring Salad mix

Total: $35.88

Food Dimensions (Myrtle Ave & Broadway)
Red Pepper Hummus
Whole Wheat Pita Bread
10 lbs Chicken Quarters
Onions
Garlic
Lemons
bag of Frozen Okra
2 boxes of Frozen Corn
1 can of Diced Tomatoes
1 bag of Dried Lentils

Total: $25.00

Cooking is not really my strong suit but I figure if I batch my cooking it wont be as bad. So on monday night I cooked brown stew chicken, lentils, okra corn and tomato succotash and a small pot of white rice. Next time I'll pictures, for now you'll have to use your imagination. I really wanted to make the brown rice I had but I didnt have 45 minutes that night. I'll probably make a small pot of brown rice to carry to work. I took caution not to use too much salt and relied on the fresh onion, garlic and herbal seasonings I had in the house. I packed a bag to take to work so I don't have to worry about breakfast, lunch and snacks. 3 tupperware containers with chicken, lentils and succotash (no white rice). I put the almonds, cranberries, cereal and creamed honey in smaller ziploc bags. The oatmeal, flaxseed chips and a few bags of frozen veggies were packed up and I poured half of the almond milk into a plastic container to take as well.

My desk and the office fridge are fully stocked. I have loose chinese green tea at my desk. Its cheaper than the tea bags and it tastes better. I buy mine from Pearl River Trading in Soho for like $2 or $3. They have different flavors - I like the peach one. Green tea is great for your metabolism and you can drink it without sugar. It's nice to have a cup before lunch and one in the midafternoon.

I'm registered with 111Days and the Fierce Fit Fab forums. A good support system is vital to staying on track with any goal - your fitness goals are the same. Its nice to be able to share information with other women who are like me and are striving towards a common goal.

I'm feeling great and you should be too :)

Happy New Year

Bonne Annee!!

Happy 2011, I hope the holidays were pleasant for you and that the New Year will bring you peace, prosperity and health. My horoscope for January is pretty inspiring. Here's something that really stuck out to me

The meeting of Jupiter and Uranus on January 4 will also be superb for starting a new exercise / fitness and nutritional program, or for learning a new sport. So many people have lofty New Year's resolutions, but few see results. If YOU get started on January 4, YOU will see results and everyone will envy you in time! In astrology, it matters when you begin. Start NOW!

Well, alrighty then! This doesnt shock me. Over the holiday break I took some time to listen to my body and think about what changes I want to make. I had a lot of red meat and pork on Christmas - my body didnt like it. I also had an uncomfortable experience with dairy.

So I need to set some goals. I haven't stepped on a scale in months so I'm going off rough guestimates. I have a few events this year that I want to slim down for. In March I'm going to Jamaica and I want to be 30 lbs lighter and In June I'm going to Amsterdam - I want to have a flat belly by then.

Okay so for January I want to take it easy on the red meat, pork, dairy and sweets. I want to lose 10 pounds and get moving 30 minutes a day at least 3 times a week. Thats it. Starting as simple as possible. I joined 111 Days and Fierce Fit Fab. I'll also be posting in the weight loss forums on NP so I think I have all the support bases covered.

Tomorrow is a new moon so I'll be doing a vision board today to keep me focused.

I got that text at 10PM last night. This was after I came home from my training session and bootcamp class. I never made it to the gym or the skating rink on wednesday so I did the extra workouts without complaining. This morning's session wasnt bad. I like that Gary switches up the exercises. This morning I did a 10 minute warm up on the treadmill (4% incline, 3 MPH) followed by some interval training in the gym (2 rounds of jumprope and leg lifts/hip raises). Then we hit the weights. Pull downs and chest presses. Those were rough but I liked the pull downs a lot. I need to master those if I ever want to be able to do chin ups and pull ups.

Yesterdays workout was on the legs (10 minute treadmill warm up, seated lifts, kick backs and weighted squat presses) and bootcamp was a bit easier than usual. I can feel myself getting stronger though. I was the fasted runner in my group last night. That made me feel good. I still have a way to go but I feel good doing this!

Come December I'm gonna look amazing. I cant wait to go back to Jamaica - I'm gonna need a bat to beat them off, forreal. lol I still need to take my full body shots for the records. I'll do that this weekend.

I took yesterday off to recover. up until 1AM this morning I was stretching my quads in bed and praying for the best. My legs feel alright today. I woke up and drank 2 cups of water and 3 psyllium husk pills. That extra fiber really makes a difference. I need to get another bottle of psyllium today. For breakfast I had blend of raw oats and almond milk. Right now I'm eating a delicious ripe peach :)

Last night I got this text from Gary (my bootcamp fitness trainer):



YAY! Its crazy because in mondays class I was thinking "when should I start weight training?". I ordered "The New Guide to Lifting for Women" and I'm waiting for that to come in the mail. I'm super excited to start weight training because I know that will be what really sets everything in motion. I want to be strong.

My cousin told me about a rollerrink in our neighborhood. $10 on wednesdays if you bring your own skates. I'm hype! I'll be hitting the gym and the elliptical machine before heading to the rink. Rollerskating is a treat and if I give the elliptical 30 minutes of my time I can reward myself with a few hours on my skates :)

Monday night bootcamp

I'm back up to 244. I blame my lack of self control on the ice cream and cake last week and allll the food at my aunts house this weekend. Its cool though. I can still turn this around.

Bootcamp class tonight was extra rough. My calves and ankles gave out about 3/4's into the class. Right now my pelvic joint is on fire and my calves are mad tight. I didnt work out over the weekend and maybe I should have. Lesson learned. I do like the feeling of pushing myself to the limit but today I was not feeling my best. Lets try again tomorrow.

Happy friday!

First things first - my thighs are on fire. I dunno if it was the boot camp class or the elliptical that mashed me up but my thighs have been ablaze since monday! I literally have to toss myself out of bed in the mornings. Thankfully it feels like the worst of the pain/soreness is over. I feel better today than I did all week. Last week it was my abs, this week its my thighs. Go figure.

I did the bootcamp class last night. I actually got this text yesterday afternoon



Well damn, I hadnt planned on going to class last night but I was glad to get the encouragement from the instructor. Class was pretty intense and I can honestly say that I'm embarassed with my fitness level. I used to be a tomboy. Very athletic. If I wasnt playing tag, throwing a football around with the boys or relay racing with my friends I was jumping double dutch from sun up to sun down. My legs are still muscular from all those years of double dutch. A few weeks ago on my way home I saw some girls playing and I asked them for a jump. I was wheezing and my damn knees were on fire. Not cute. I'm only 24. Not even 10 years ago I was light on my feet with tons of energy.

So last night's class was super challenging and I could barely complete all of the sets/reps of ab work he had us doing. I couldnt even lift my hips off the mat. I felt my thighs burning when I had to use my core and do sit ups. I want to be stronger so I'll keep going to class. I guess this is a real wakeup call.

I'll also confess that I smoke (not just cigarrettes, either) and I'm starting to see the effect that has on me. I smoked on tuesday and wednesday night. I definitely felt it the following morning. Aside from the fact that the munchies made me completely fall off the wagon both nights, I didnt like the sluggish feeling I had in the mornings. Last nights workout shouldnt have left me feeling that drained but I felt horrible. I'll have to make a promise to myself that I will not smoke during the week. I read an old interview with Missy Elliot and she said in order for her to lose the weight and keep it off she had to stop smoking altogether. I can totally see that happening. I really need to think about why I smoke and is it really all that necessary a habit to maintain in the long run.

re-boot!

Last night's bootcamp class was BRUTAL. But it was so much fun. Last week I took the morning class but I had gotten in very late sunday night so I decided to take the evening class. when the instructor saw me he said "pace yourself, this class is tougher than the morning class". WHAT?! Well I was not prepared but I pushed through it. I wanted to be challenged and even though I didnt complete all the sets and reps I pushed through it. Towards the end of the class we had some fun playing a modified version of tag. I was laughing so hard and enjoying myself that I didnt realize my entire body was on fire. I'll stick with the monday night class. Thats the hardest workout of the week and I know that everything after is gonna be fun. Tonight I'll try and do 40 minutes on the elliptical because my hips feel stiff and I dont want to be super sore for tomorrow mornings bootcamp.

My coworker just commented that I look a lil slimmer in the face :)

quick post

I'm blogging from the bus stop. I hopped on the scale before I dashed out the house and headed to my bootcamp class tonight.

*drumroll*

I'm 239.6lbs! I'm down 3 pounds this week! *happy dance*

I'll do a full post when I get home :)

I was talking to my roommate a few nights ago and I told her that while I know I'm supposed to be appreciating the journey I wish I would be at my destination already. I'm wearing this skirt today from H&M. Its a size 14. You should see how ridiculous I look in this skirt. Its pulled up over my belly button and I keep shifting it around because its so tight. The damn lining is barely fitting around my thighs and behind.

I'm looking forward to my clothes fitting better. Hopefully by my september checkpoint I'll be feeling a difference.

todays triumph

Last night I started getting sleepy around 9pm. Usually I'm up at till after midnight and dragging myself out of bed around 8am. Going to sleep early means I can get up earlier so I was excited to get to bed last night. I gave myself an 11pm bedtime and I think I'll be able to stick to it. I woke up at 5:30am and went to the gym.

I felt SO GOOD once I finished my workout. The trainer from Boot Camp fitness saw me and gave me the thumbs up. I was a sweaty mess but I felt great.

I was in a rush to pack my lunch today (yesterday I had a salad from mc donalds and I bought fruits from the fruit stand). Since I'm really trying to be budget conscious I packed some of the vegetarian chili I made last week, half a baked chicken breast, leftover scrambled eggs and a tortilla wrap. But I needed veggies to go with my meal and I remembered I had some frozen spinach in the freezer. I just heated up my lunch and I am amazed at how quick and painless my lunch was. I'm gonna be buying tons of frozen spinach!

Official

It's official. I am on the path to health and fitness! I had vacation days scheduled on monday and tuesday so all weekend I stayed home and relaxed, meditated and planned my strategy. Of course I ate like a pig too. I'm not gonna say how much I ate but it was too much for 1 person to be eating in 1 sitting. I think a part of me just wanted to get all of those urges out of my system before I got down to business. I know it's unhealthy (binging/restricting cycle) and I will be keeping this journal to stay conscious of this. It wont be the last time I have an urge to eat an insane amount of pizza or sushi or whatever I'm craving.

This morning I took a boot camp fitness class at my gym. Class started at 6:30AM. OMG it was the most intense workout ever. I was huffing and puffing like nobodies business. Sweating all over the place. I didnt complete all of the exercises but I didnt beat myself up about it. My body REALLY got a workout and everyone has to start somewhere. The class meets on mondays and wednesdays. I'm going to make it my business to be at that class every week. When I got home I had enough time to shower and get ready for work so its perfect. I marked the workout down on my big calendar in my bedroom and I hope to fill that calendar up with workouts this month.

Before I went to the gym I drank a nutrament. I read online that you shouldn't workout in the morning on an empty stomach and that a decent pre workout meal is a protien shake or some combination of protien, complex carbs and fat. I need to buy some protien powder so I can make my own shakes in the morning. Nutrament is $2 a can. When I got to work I bought some strawberries, peaches and a banana. I had the banana with some peanut butter. I felt hungry a little later and had a couple strawberries. For lunch I had a caesar salad with grilled chicken from mc donalds. I'll have my fruits for the rest of the afternoon and when I get home I'll probably have another chicken salad. I'm going food shopping to pick up some chicken breasts. They'll be seasoned and some will be cooked while the rest will be frozen. I need to look up some new recipes as well. If you have any quick and tasty recipes let me know.

Guys please pray that I'm able to maintain this. I really want to be at 215 by my birthday in October. Thats 30 pounds away!

planning works!

My excitement has me posting like crazy. Hopefully I wont lose focus or momentum. I got the meal planning down for this week so I can start planning my workouts. I have a membership at my local YMCA and the facility is really, really nice. They have a full schedule of dance classes, yoga, pilates, water aerobics. There's a swimming pool, top notch equipment and weight room. The locker rooms are nice too - clean showers, steamroom and a sauna. I definitely don't take advantage of it like I should so I want to turn that around.

I've taken some dance classes there before. Caribbean dance was grueling but fun. African dance and belly dance were nice too. I've spent $15 on a african dance class before at a dance studio and the class at the Y was just as good. I'm interested in doing the boot camp fitness class too but I'm scared. I've always wanted to try boot camp fitness so I think I'm gonna go ahead and say eff it. There are two morning classes on mondays and wednesdays. 6:30AM-7:15AM. Thats super early but if my meals and gym bag is packed and my clothes are laid out the night before I really could do it. It's all in the planning. Tonight I'm going to caribbean dance then I'm going home to change and hang out with my friends. I seriously have to think about what drives me and what will get me to the gym when I dnnt feel like going.

Here's what my ideal workout schedule is looking like for next week

Mon - Boot Camp 6:30AM-7:15AM
Tue - rest
Wed - Boot Camp 6:30AM-7:15AM
Thu - Caribbean Dance 6:30PM-7:30PM
Fri - African Dance 6PM-7PM
Sat - rest
Sun - Belly Dance 2:30PM-3:30PM

I know half of my workouts are gonna be very demanding (boot camp, caribbean dance) but at least I know once I got the hard stuff out the way that I'll be able to have more fun with the other classes. The first week is always the hardest anyway so I'm glad I'll be home for most of the week. I'll have time to juice up something for my sore muscles. I need to find a recipe for that right now.

Planning is really giving me the edge I need. While food shopping last night it felt good to have a list to refer to. Even this morning it helped because while the food was prepared I was in a rush so I couldnt remember off top what was in the fridge. Having the meals stuck on the fridge made it simple to pack and get moving. I'll be planning all of my meals from now on.

Meal Plan

When I start working out I can always get the ball rolling and stay on task with going to the gym. I struggle with meal planning and making healthy food choices on the go. I also need to save money and cut back on spending so much on take out food. On average I can spend anywhere from $7-$15 a day on food. Times that by 5 and I spend anywhere between $35 to $75 for food during the work week. Thats not including dinner (~$7 a meal) or meals on the weekend. Thats too much damn money! Spending close to $400 a month on food for one person is irresponsible. I could be saving that extra money and using it towards paying down my debts, saving for a car or taking a nice vacation once I reach my weight loss goals.

I planned my meals for the next 7 days. I'm giving myself a budget of $30. From week to week I'll see what I can cut back on. Ultimately I want to plan my meals for the month and do bulk shopping for ingridients. Baby steps.

Meals

Fruit, peanuts and green tea
blueberry/blackberry/strawberry, soy milk and ice smoothie
whole wheat tortilla/english muffin, scrambled eggs and veggies
Fish, brown rice and steamed bok choy
Spinach and tomato salad
Vegetarian Chilli

Shopping list

Fish - I love red snapper but I need to stay within my budget
1 can of black beans
1 can of kidney beans
2 onions
6 large tomatoes
garlic
3 bell peppers
spinach
bok choy
strawberries
mangoes
soy milk
whole wheat tortillas or whole wheat english muffins

I'll be going to chinatown after work for the fish, fruits and vegetables. I'll pick up the canned beans, soy milk and whole wheat tortillas/english muffins at the supermarket near my house. When I get home I'll update and we'll see if I was able to stay within my budget.

UPDATE

I havent had this much fun food shopping in a long time. Here's what I got.

6 red snapper filets - $6.99
5 tomatoes on the vine - $2
5 bulbs of garlic - $1
2 green peppers - $1
2 lbs baby spinach - $1
1 lb strawberries - $1
2 lbs bok choy - $2.08
Silk Almond milk - $3.99
tomato tortilla wraps - $3.39
1 can crushed tomatoes - $1.89
1 can pinto beans - $0.89
1 can kidney beans - $0.79

TOTAL: $26.02

YAY! I stayed within the budget with $3.98 to spare :) Now I'm off to do all my cooking. I'll portion the meals out into plastic containers and stack them in the fridge. I'm even gonna make two smoothies and pour them into some empty vitamin water bottles.

Weight Loss 101 (Getting Your Mind Right)!!!

I found this amazing video series by BeautifulBrwnBabyDol. Some helpful tips on getting your mind right before embarking on your weight loss journey.

My name is Nikki. I'm a 24 year old from Brooklyn, I'm 5'7" and I weigh 245 pounds. In October I turn 25 and I want to embrace a new healthier lifestyle. I've been overweight since HS and I never made any real attempts at weight loss until 3 years ago. Between January 2008 and March 2008 I lost a total of 30 pounds.


May 2008 || 210 lbs


June 2010 || 245 lbs

At 210 I was my lowest weight as an adult. I lost the weight by juicing regularly and running 3-4 miles 5-6 days a week. It was hard but I stuck with it but once summer hit I lost my motivation. I've since gained all the weight back and some. This time I want to shed the weight for good.

I've done a lot of reading and research. One of the first books I read was 'Heal Thyself' by Queen Afua. It opened my eyes about what it truly means to be healthy. Another book I read was "The Truth About Beauty" by Kat James. I was amazed by how she broke down the science of being healthy and how it extends into all areas of our lives. The last book I read was "The 4 Day Diet" by Dr. Ian Smith. My aunt put me on to this book after she lost 50 pounds last year and kept it off. Dr. Ian's book is about making permanent lifestyle changes using clean foods and a diet that allows variety and flexibility.

After meditating on what I need to do next I've figured out what I need to reach my goal:

-planning. I have to plan my meals and workouts a week in advance. If I know exactly what I'm going to eat, at what times and when I'll be going to the gym I can shop, cook and pack my gym clothes accordingly.

-support. Having a support system is essential to staying on track. There will be days when I don't feel like going to the gym or when I want to eat something unhealthy. I need people to help me stay focused on my goal and offer words of encouragement when I need it. I also need to support my friends who are also on the path of health and change. Offering support to others keeps the positivity going.

-goals. I need to set realistic goals for myself and goals that arent necessarily weight related. Keep the goals visible and review them frequently.

Why do I want to lose weight?

I've really come into myself as a young woman. I finally learned to accept my body and I love myself. It took me a long time to be comfortable with my body but now that I am I want to push myself. I never really gave my weight loss a chance. If I lost 30 pounds in 3 months then imagine what I could do in 6-12-24 months. I've always admired atheletes and I've wished I could be more athletic. Theres only one way to become athletic - become an athlete! I want to be a life long athlete. Someone who trains and works out because it feels good and because it improves my quality of life.

I started a business 2 years ago and it has grown to the point where I am physically exhuasted. When I was working out in 2008 I felt totally different. I had more energy, more stamina, clearer thinking and sharper focus. Lately I've been moody, irritable, depressed and sluggish. I don't like it. If I want to take my business to the next level I need to take care of myself first.

There are more reasons but I'll list them as I blog.

having a plan is as essential to success as the absence of one is to failure

- Unknown

Goals

weight goals

current weight - 242 lbs
short term goal - 227 lbs by 1/31/11
mid term goal - 200 lbs by 3/31/10
long term goal - 180 by 9/5/11

fitness goals

run 3 miles in 45 minutes - by 3/15/11